Shanghai's best vintage shops

Top vintage and second-hand boutiques in Shanghai for one of a kind retro fashions

Posted: Thursday July 18 2013, Updated: Monday March 12 2018

Shanghai's retro scene is on the up and up, with more vintage boutiques and pop-ups opening up throughout the city. Here's where to shop when you're looking for unique pieces, second-hand items and one-of-a-kind retro fashions, accessories and jewellery from the 1920s-1990s.

Annata's small but well-edited collection spans the 1920s through the1980s, with many items handpicked during trips to Istanbul, Trieste, Amsterdam and London’s Brick Lane. Lining the walls are rails of tea-dresses, embellished denim jackets and funky print shirts (each item is neatly labelled with the decade to which it belongs), while shelves groan with cage coin purses, cats’-eye sunglasses and costume jewellery.

The undisputed queen of Shanghai's vintage scene, Lolo's sprawling space is dripping with nostalgic glamour with kitsch trinkets, such as typewriters and toy dolls filling classic armoires, while standout pieces adorn mannequins or decorate the walls. The plentiful rails of retro stock here are the fruits of stylist Lolo’s sourcing from the US and Europe, with a particular focus on styles from the '50s through the '70s.

Encouraging sustainable attitudes towards shopping while making designer wear affordable, second hand consignment shop Pawnstar is the place to shift your old wardrobe and find a whole new one – well, used one. The labels on offer are extensive, with items from the likes of Shanghai Tang, Chanel and Nicholas Kirkwood lining the racks and a sizable collection of jewellery, bags, ties, hats and shoes filling the rest of the space. Items that aren’t up to scratch for sale are upcycled by in-house designer Nisa or donated, but never wasted.

After years of tromping about old factories and second-hand markets all across China, the people behind Shanghai Code have amassed an enormous collection of reclaimed Chinese-made glasses from the 1940s through the 1990s. Glasses and sunglasses in every classic style are on sale, ranging from the affordable (around 200RMB) to the boutique (6,000RMB). All purchases also come with a free adjustment service to make sure your new specs fit just right.

Not just a must-see for glasses, this treasure trove of classic Chinese goodies also stocks an impressive array of vintage wristwatches and knick-knacks of all shapes and sizes – alarm clocks, children's books, hot water jugs, and even an old-fashioned iron. A definite Tianzifang standout with tons of local colour and charisma.